When Opposites Attract
by Taynay
Summary: Gray and Claire despise eachother. They are enemies of eachother, unable to resist an argument. Will these two ever become close, especially after what happens with Claire? Sometimes, in order to make it, you have to break it. Graire, plus other matches!
1. Snow's Tantrum

**Hey guys. This is the first chapter to this story, and I worked pretty hard on it. Hopefully you'll like it! Please don't forget to review at the end of the story, that helps me a bunch when writing the next chapters. Thanks, and enjoy!**

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**Claire's POV**

The sun beamed down on me as I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I dipped my watering can into the small pool one last time, and walked over to the many rows of turnips that scattered my field. Tipping the watering can over the thirsty crops, I sprinkled an even amount of water onto each turnip.

Finally, today's work was done. I glanced at my watch – it was only 1:30. I decided to pay Ann a visit for a lunch break, hopefully avoiding some certain people along the way.

I jumped over a few rocks enthusiastically while I ran over to grab my basket, just before setting off up the road.

It must have been around 15 minutes later when I reached the familiar sight of the Inn. Opening the door, I looked around and saw Ann, who looked at me in return and waved.

"Claiiiireee!" she yelled happily, grabbing two plates of apple pie (one of my absolute favorites, by the way), and ran over to a table, gesturing for me to come and sit down also.

"Hey, Ann. You look in an awfully good mood today," I commented, picking up a fork and taking a bite out of the apple pie. Oh, it was so delicious! Ann was a fantastic cook.

"I am, now that you're here!" she giggled, apparently laughing on the expression on my face as I took a bite of the apple pie.

"Mm," I said, unable to help myself, "Ann… you should think about becoming a professional cook. I mean, really, this is delicious!"

I caught Ann blush slightly at my comment, "Thanks, but I'm sure you're not too shabby yourself," she replied, glancing toward my direction. Before I had a chance to reply, I caught Ann blushing again. I wondered what – or who – she saw, and I turned around to see a bashful Cliff.

"H-hey, Ann… Hi, C-claire," he stuttered, turning a dark shade of red at the sight of Ann. I bit my lip, trying to hold in a laugh.

"Hi, Cliff…" Ann muttered in response, but showed no change in face color.

"Well," I said after a few moments of awkward silence, "I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone," I said, bringing my empty plate to the counter for Ann. I noticed that Cliff and Ann's faces grew an even darker shade of red at my comment.

"Thanks for the pie, Ann, it really was delicious!" I said before taking my leave out the door, leaving the two tomatoes to fend for themselves.

I took a left and walked further up the path and into the supermarket. I saw Karen, lazily yawning, and Jeff, looking somewhat sick. I walked up to the counter which contained flour, oil and chocolate. I bought some of each, and walked over to Jeff to purchase them.

"T-that will be 350G, p-please," Jeff stuttered. I couldn't help but smile as I laid the cash out in front of him.

"Thanks," I said, Jeff nodding in reply as he handed me the goods.

I walked over to Karen, who seemed mightily interested in the wrapping paper on the shelf.

"Hey, Karen," I called out. She jumped and snapped out of her trance, looking over toward me.

"Oh! Claire! Sorry, I didn't see you. I was spacing out," she laughed, rubbing the back of her neck.

"It's okay," I laughed, "I do that a lot,"

"So, anything new?" she asked me as she leaned against a counter.

"No, not really. I stopped by the Inn and talked with Ann…" I giggled, "only to later be interrupted by a very flustered Cliff."

She laughed, "I wonder when they're going to stop being so shy around each other? I mean, Goddess, Cliff's been staying at the Inn for what, a year or so now?" she asked.

"Yeah, if not more," I replied.

I heard bells near the door, indicating that someone had walked in. I turned around to find Saibara and… Gray. Great, just what I needed. A nice, friendly chat with my favorite person Gray.

"Hey, Jeff!" Saibara called happily over to the shop care-taker. "Gray and I were just over to pick up those supplies I asked you about," he continued, when he glanced over in our direction.

"Sure thing," Replied Jeff, "C-come on, Karen, h-help me find those things for t-these gentlemen." He stuttered, getting off his stool and walking towards the doorway connecting the back room.

I glanced over at Karen, who had a worried look planted on her face. She whispered to me, "Don't tear anyone's limbs up while we're gone, okay?" which probably meant Gray's.

"Hmph," I muttered, folding my arms across my chest.

I saw Saibara say something to Gray from across the shop, who then turned to follow Jeff.

It was probably a warning similar to what Karen said to me.

An agitated Gray watched as his grandfather walked out the door, who then started to glare at me.

"What are you looking at?!" I snapped at him after a few moments.

"A loudmouth brat, I'm guessing. I don't see anyone else in this room, so that must mean you."

I gritted my teeth, trying to stop myself from lunging at him. _It's a good thing we're on opposite sides of the room,_ I thought to myself. I heard some laughter from the room behind me.

"Why did you come with, anyway?" I asked him in an irritated tone.

"Why do you care where I go and what I do?" He growled in an equally irritated tone.

"I don't." I said, "But you don't seem exactly like the shopping type. Unless I'm wrong, and you have a feminine side that I'm not aware of?"

"Maybe I have a few things to pick up," he replied angrily, his fists now clenched into balls. "You should keep your dirty nose out of other people's business," he added, which influenced me to take a step forward.

"You think my nose is dirty? Why don't you come and take a closer look, and we'll see who's is dirtier!" I exclaimed, flailing my fist in the air with a slight punching motion.

"I think I already know the answer! I mean, really, do you ever shower?" he yelled, now showing much anger in his already gruff voice.

"Ugh!" I screamed, stomping up to him. "What's your problem? Can't you even TRY to get along? I was doing just fine until you came along!" I yelled in his face.

"As was I! Thanks to you, my day is ruined!" he yelled back.

I opened my mouth to scream back at him, when the back door flung open and a worried Karen and Saibara ran out, followed by Jeff.

"What's going on here?!" Saibara yelled, directing the question to Gray rather than to both of us.

"N-nothing," Gray muttered, shooting daggers at my eyes. Karen looked at me, then shook her head.

"Can't you two ever get along?" she asked.

"Maybe we _could_, if _grumpy_ here," I yelled as I pointed at Gray and poked him hard in the chest, "could handle his emotions instead of lashing out on everyone!"

"Me?!" he yelled, glaring angrily at me, "You were the one screaming like you were some crazy animal!"

Again, I opened my mouth to respond, but was interrupted by an angry old man's voice.

"Gray, that's enough. Get your things and let's go. I'm sorry for your trouble, Claire," Saibara said as he nodded apologetically toward me. I watched as Gray picked up his stuff and stormed out the door.

"Thanks, Jeff. See you, Karen," Saibara called over his shoulder as he left the building also.

I glanced over toward Karen when they left. She was still shaking her head at me.

"It's not my fault he's always in a bad mood," I said as an excuse to stop her head from shaking.

Jeff looked confused, and sick, as usual. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the doorknob. "I'm going to go," I called to Karen. She waved as I walked out.

**Gray's POV – before the argument**

Grandpa had said he needed to pick up some supplies from Jeff, and asked if I wanted to come with. I nodded, not having anything better to do anyway. We walked up the path and past the library and the Mayor's house, opening the door to the Store as we reached the destination. I looked around and immediately saw her. Claire. A sick feeling crawled over me as I scowled at her and my grandpa shot me a look of warning.

"Hey, Jeff!" grandpa called to the store-owner. _Why does he always look like he's going to puke?_ I wondered.

"Gray and I were just over to pick up those supplies I asked you about," he continued as I noticed him look over at Claire and Karen. "Sure thing," Jeff said, "C-come on, Karen, h-help me find those things for t-these gentlemen."

I saw Karen whisper something in Claire's ear, just as grandpa whispered something in mine.

"You behave yourself, boy. We don't need any more of your bickering… especially not here."

I grunted unhappily as I glared at the blonde, putting my hands in my pockets.

She stared at me for a few minutes in return before snapping.

"What are you looking at?!" she yelled.

"A loudmouth brat, I'm guessing. I don't see anyone else in this room, so that must mean you." I replied. I could hear faint laughter in the room where grandpa, Jeff and Karen recently walked into.

"Why did you come with, anyway?" she yelled in an irritated tone.

"Why do you care where I go and what I do?" I growled back in an equally irritated tone.

"I don't." she said, "But you don't seem exactly like the shopping type. Unless I'm wrong, and you have a feminine side that I'm not aware of?" I saw her smirk at her own comment.

"Maybe I have a few things to pick up," I replied anger rising in my voice, my fists now clenched into balls. "You should keep your dirty nose out of other people's business," I added. I noticed she took a step forward before talking again.

"You think my nose is dirty? Why don't you come and take a closer look, and we'll see who's is dirtier!" she exclaimed, flailing her fist in the air with a slight punching motion.

"I think I already know the answer! I mean, really, do you ever shower?" I yelled, now feeling even more anger rise in my voice.

"Ugh!" she screamed, stomping up to me. "What's your problem? Can't you even TRY to get along? I was doing just fine until you came along!" she yelled in my face.

"As was I! Thanks to you, my day is ruined!" I yelled back.

She opened her mouth to scream back at me, when the back door flung open and a worried looking Karen and grandpa ran out, followed by Jeff.

"What's going on here?!" grandpa yelled, directing the question to me rather than to both of us.

"N-nothing," I muttered, shooting daggers at the brat's eyes. I saw Karen shaking her head in the corner of my eyes.

"Can't you two ever get along?" she asked.

"Maybe we _could_, if _grumpy_ here," she yelled as she pointed at me and poked my chest, "could handle his emotions instead of lashing out on everyone!" I have to admit, she had guts to poke me like that, although it made me even more angry.

"Me?!" I yelled, glaring angrily at her, "You were the one screaming like you were some crazy animal!"

She opened her mouth once again to respond, but was interrupted by an angry old man's voice.

"Gray, that's enough. Get your things and let's go. I'm sorry for your trouble, Claire," grandpa said as he nodded apologetically toward me. _She should be the one apologizing,_ I thought as I quickly gathered my stuff and stormed out the door, slamming it behind me.

I stomped down the path, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. Everytime Claire and I were in the same room together, I felt this sudden urge to tear her apart. We almost ALWAYS fought, the result being nothing good.

Luckily, this time, grandpa came out in time to stop the fight. Most of the time he'd let us resolve it (which, might I add, we never did), but I guess he didn't want Jeff and Karen to have to deal with a riot.

I frowned as I remembered her rude outburst, which was the reason I got upset.

"_What are you looking at?!"_

Everything would have been fine, if it weren't for that. What a brat.

I sighed as I started to walk faster toward the Inn. I glanced at my watch, it read 4:46.

I opened the door to the Inn once I arrived, and looked around to the 3 men at the bar counter. Rick, who was sitting on the end, Cliff, sitting next to him, and Tim, sitting a couple stools away from Cliff. Ann looked up from her sandwich-making when I approached the counter.

"Heeey, big brother! What's wrong with you?" she asked, noticing my scowl.

"Nothing. Just a lovely encounter with a certain blonde," I said, taking a seat next to Cliff.

Ann seemed to wince a bit when I told her that, then asked jokingly, "Aw, did poor little Gray get beat up by big, mean Claire?"

"Shut up," I grumbled, "you're putting me in an even worse mood," I said as I glared at her.

"Sorry," she giggled, and continued chopping cucumbers and tomatoes.

"You guys should really start trying to get along," Cliff said after a while of silence. "One of these days someone's going to end up getting hurt," he said seriously.

"Hopefully it'll be her," I growled.

"Hey," Ann said rather loudly, "that's my friend you're talking about, big guy. Don't you go trying to hurt Claire, now!"

I rolled my eyes as I stole a piece of cucumber that Ann just cut up and popped it into my mouth.

"See you guys later," I said as I trudged up the stairs and into my bedroom.

**Claire's POV – The next day**

I awoke to the tapping of rain on my windowsill as I slowly opened my eyes. Glancing over at my alarm clock, I noticed the time: 7:39.

I lazily crawled out of bed, somewhat glad that it was raining so that I didn't have to water my crops today. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out my green sweatshirt, a gray scarf and a pair of jeans. I put on my clothes and started to make some breakfast. Pancakes sounded good today, although I wasn't exactly the master chef when it came to pancakes. Too bad Ann wasn't here, I thought to myself.

I made the pancakes, and after they were done, I grabbed my gray and white beanie hat that I liked to wear on cold days, and went to feed my chickens. Opening the door, they started clucking happily. At least, I think they were happy. Hey, I'm not the chicken whisperer. That's what we have Rick for.

I grabbed some feed from the bin and threw some into each chicken's feed box. They sure seemed excited for their food, but they couldn't possibly be that hungry. I shrugged and walked out the door, heading for the barn now. The cows and sheep were sleeping when I walked in, but awoke to the smell of fresh hay. I gave some to all three cows and all three sheep. I brushed and stroked each one before I left for the horse shed. I had three horses, Snow, a white horse who's fur was almost identical to the color of snow, Buddy, a brown and white paint who was feisty, and Beauty, a black stallion with a white diamond on his forehead and four white socks. I patted each one and brushed them, giving them each a treat.

Once done with my chores, I decided to go visit Mary, since it was 10:30.

I walked out of the shed and headed up the familiar path toward the blacksmith's, and kept walking north until I reached the library. Mary seemed to see me through the window, since she had a happy look before I walked inside.

"Claire, how good to see you!" she said as I took off my beanie and scarf and laid them on the coat rack near the doorway.

"Hey, Mary. Are you working on your novel?" I asked, noticing the pen she was holding in her hand.

"I was, but I found a case of writer's block, so I'm glad you came to visit at the time you did!" she said and I laughed at her joke. I looked around and caught a cowboy hat laying on the ground.

"Who's is that?" I asked, pointing to the hat.

"Oh, that's mine… I got it as a gift when I was visiting a ranch," she said, smiling, "Not that I've ever worn it anyway. I just found it in my closet as I was cleaning."

"Huh," I said as I picked it up. It had brown leather, with a black strap around the middle. I put it on my head, stood up, put my hand on my hip and smirked at Mary.

"How do I look?" I said in the best Elvis accent I could manage.

She put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. "You'd make a wonderful cowboy… or an Elvis impersonator!" she said, laughing.

"Thank you, thank you very much," I said, bowing as the hat fell off my head.

"Oh, Claire," she said, giggling, "You always know how to brighten my day."

"I try," I said, smiling. I set the hat back in it's place and walked over to one of the bookshelves. There were only about 3 books in place.

"Mary, why are there only three books here?" I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh! That's right! I had completely forgotten," she said, looking over toward a stack of books on the floor. "These books came in yesterday, and I haven't had the time to put them on the shelves."

"I'd be happy to help!" I said, running over to the messy stack of books. I grabbed a couple armfuls and walked carefully over to the bookcase. Placing each neatly in alphabetical order, I gleamed at Mary.

"Thanks, Claire, but you really don't have to do that," she said, smiling. "I'm sure you have work to do at your farm that I wouldn't want to keep you from,"

"No, I've finished my work already," I said, walking over to Mary and poking her in the nose, "So don't you worry about me. I'll help you clean up while you think up a cure for that nasty writer's block," I giggled, walking over to grab up more books.

"Well, thanks, Claire." She smiled, returning to her novel writing. I placed the books into the bookshelf, taking a pause every now and then to count letters.

After a few moments of silence, besides the sounds of books hitting the wood on the bookshelves, I finished putting the books away and stifled a yawn.

"Mary," I said quietly, not wanting to disturb her from her writing. "Do you mind if I take a short nap here?"

"Go right ahead, darling," she said, smiling.

I grabbed the cowboy hat I had recently been playing with and put it over my face, slouching down in one of the chairs.

I drifted off into a deep sleep after a while of closing my eyes.

**Gray's POV**

I walked into the library, waving at Mary as she waved in return. She looked at me for a few moments, when suddenly her face turned into a worried expression as she glanced at the sleeping body in the chair.

I didn't know who it was at first, until I saw a strand of blonde hair hanging out from under her coat and that hat she had on her head.

_Damnit. We always bump into eachother at the wrong times._ I thought angrily as I walked up to the counter Mary was sitting at.

"What's she doing here?" I muttered, trying to stay as quiet as possible so she wouldn't wake up screaming at me.

"She came to help me put some books away," she said, pointing to a now full bookcase. "She got tired and asked if she could take a short nap here. I told her it was fine," she said, looking over to Claire.

"Why'd you do that? She could have went back to her farm…" I grumbled, a frown on my face.

"She looked really tired. I was afraid she'd pass out on the way back, and then she'd get sick from the rain." She said, giggling.

I shook my head as I walked over to one of the bookcases. I took out a random book and sat down as far away as possible from little miss bratty, opened my book, trying to get interested in what it was saying.

A few moments later, I heard a groan in the direction of the blonde. She appeared to have been waking up, and I glanced at Mary. She just smiled at Claire and said, "Good morning, sleepy head,"

Claire jumped and yelled, "It's morning?!" I rolled my eyes. Mary giggled and said, "It's only 3:30, silly. Don't get so worried."

She sat up fully now, pulling off her coat and taking off the cowboy hat. She seemed to spot me almost immediately.

She scowled in my direction, as she crossed her arms over her chest while she let out a small "hmph,".

"Chill out, I didn't do anything yet," I said, rather irritated by her behavior.

"Yet is the keyword there," she muttered, looking at Mary.

"Guys… please don't start fighting," she pleaded, looking from me to blonde.

Oblivious to her pleading, she continued on. "Why do you always follow me wherever I go? I mean, don't you have anyone else to stalk?" she exclaimed angrily.

"Maybe you just happen to be in my line of target!" I snapped back, pointing at her from across the room.

"You know, as much as I'd like to keep arguing with you over nothing," she growled, "I don't think Mary needs the extra noise. So, for her sake, I'm leaving. Bye, Mary," she said as she got up from her chair, put her beanie on her head and that scarf around her neck while she trudged out the door, into the rain.

Now that was something different. Usually she'd stay until she couldn't bear to stay awake any longer to argue with me. I guess Mary had some magic touch with her and her arguing.

I pulled my hat down to cover my face as I caught Mary glaring at me. "I hate it when you two fight, I really do…" she said, returning to her novel writing. I said nothing and continued to read the book in my hands.

**Claire's POV**

What an ass! I hate that man, HATE him. He ALWAYS had to say something that pissed me off enough to say something back, triggering another comment from him, and so on and so forth, until we had to be interrupted by someone before we hurt eachother.

I walked up to the Inn. I felt like talking to Ann before the big, redheaded jerk-o-saurus left the library. Once I got there, I opened the door and trudged angrily to a seat at the bar next to Karen.

"Hey Claire," both Ann and Karen said almost simultaneously.

"Hi," I grumbled, putting my head in my hands.

"What's wrong?" Ann asked as I caught her glancing toward Karen.

"Your brother, that's what." I stated firmly.

"You guys got into another argument?" Karen asked.

"Yeah, like we always do. A stupid, good for nothing argument about something completely ridiculous. I left the library before Mary could yell at us. I could tell she was already getting annoyed by us…" I replied to both of them.

"He's just looking for attention," Ann giggled.

I rolled my eyes as I let a "hmph," escape from my lips. For some reason, I found that hard to believe.

We talked a while longer before I glanced at my watch. 4:03. That means Gray'll be on his way here soon. I'd better leave before I bump into him again.

"I'm going to go. Gray is probably on his way here," I said, standing up and walking toward the door.

"Bye!" called Ann.

"See you, Claire," waved Karen.

**Claire's POV**

I had my pillow on top of my head as I heard birds singing near my window. Thanks to them, I didn't really need an alarm clock. I tried to get up, but my feet were all tangled up in my blankets. I kicked them off angrily, walking over to make some cereal. I thought in my head what I was going to do today. I figured I'd probably take Snow out for a ride, she needed some excersise. I got up and walked over to the sink as I finished my bowl of cereal, rinsing the leftover milk in the water. I got to my dresser and pulled out some white kapri's with a gray, snug t-shirt. I put on some white gloves for harvesting turnips and walked outside.

Man, it was quite hot out this morning. It felt good though, compared to yesterday's shower.

I didn't water the crops today, as they had probably gotten quite enough for today from the rain. I harvested all my turnips and threw them into the shipping bin. I took care of the cows, sheep and chickens as I let them outside to graze today. I grabbed the honey from the tree and skipped over to the horse shed, anxious to take Snow for a ride. I'm sure she was anxious, too. She hadn't gotten to go out for a ride in quite a while.

I heard all three horses whinny happily as I walked in the stable door. "Hey cuties," I called, grabbing each of their reins and led them outdoors. Beauty and Buddy seemed to run off right away once they got outside, excited to be in the hot weather.

I kept Snow beside me as I crawled onto her back, tapping her sides so she'd move into a slow trot. We moved up the path as we took a right toward the inn. Checking my watch, I saw it was 9:30. I stopped Snow in front of the inn, as she jerked backward at the pressure of the reins.

"Woah, what's the matter with you?" I asked quietly. She snowed absolutely no sign of aknowledgement, but rather stomped her foot and tilted her ears back.

I suddenly felt nervous on the horse. I then noticed what caught her eye – a squirrel. She was terrified of squirrels, for some reason. I didn't know why, because neither of the other two were afraid of them. If I tried to get off, she might throw me off and trample me. If I stay on, there's a chance I can hold on if she tries to do anything.

So, I went with plan B. I stayed on the horse for a while longer, before she suddenly started backing up in a rather fast pace. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't stop. She just kept backing up.

She's going to run into the fence, I thought to myself.

And, in a flash, she reared up with me on her back, neighing loudly. She came back down and stomped the ground, just before rearing again. She repeated this process, ignoring my pleas to calm down. All of a sudden, I was thrown off the horse and onto the fence behind us. I hit my back hard, along with a blow to the head from the hard cement. She turned around and faced me, her ears tilted back. I heard the door to the inn swing open, watching as a wide-eyed Ann and Gray came running out.

Ann tried calling to Snow, but it only made it worse. She jumped toward me, landing directly on my arm and my wrist to my opposite arm. I screamed in pain, tears forming in my eyes. Snow was even more surprised at my scream, as she reared again and stomped on my wrist once more. I was crying by now, the vision in my eyes blurring. Soon, everything became even more blurry, and I became very dizzy. I started to close my eyes from the unbearable pain, not really paying attention to my surroundings. Sooner or later, I recognized the smell of the clinic. Not knowing when, how, or why I was there, I was utterly confused. A few moments later I could hear the voices around me becoming fainter and fainter, when eventually, I must have passed out.

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**I'll be working on my next chapter soon, it will probably be up in either next week or maybe even a few days. It all depends on school!**

**Please leave reviews and tell me what suggestions you might have, or if you have any tips on anything.**

**Thanks for reading! Don't forget to check back soon for chapter 2. :)**


	2. Bitter Work

Yay, here's chapter two

**Yay, here's chapter two! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please review at the end of the story, and thanks to all of you who reviewed in chapter one. It encouraged me to get this finished faster. :)**

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**Gray's POV – the morning of Claire's accident**

I walked sleepily downstairs and sat down at one of the tables wearing gray boxer shorts and a white cutoff t-shirt. I guessed Ann was making breakfast, since I awoke to the smell of waffles. I ran my fingers through my messed up bed-head hair and laid my head on the table as I waited for the food.

"Morning, sleepy head!" Ann called cheerfully as she carried a plate of waffles over to my table. "Aw, you look so cute with your hair messed up like that," she said as she ruffled my hair up even more than it already was.

"Just wait until you wake up with a bed head," I grumbled, taking a bite out of the warm waffles as I watched her wait for me to swallow.

"Well? How are they?" she asked watching me chew, which was really uncomfortable.

"They're… good," I said, trying not to give her too big of a compliment. She looked a bit disappointed, but gave me a smile as she walked off upstairs to clean the rooms up. Ann always tended to urge people to try her cooking, whether it be her family or a complete stranger. I doubt she'd ever gotten a negative comment about her food, because I had to admit, she was one hell of a good cook.

I finished my waffles as I tossed the dish into the sink before hearing Ann come back down the stairs. She threw me a look of disgust while holding up some boxers. "Why do you leave everything on the floor for me to clean up? It's not like I want to see your underwear!" she cried, throwing the boxers at my face.

"It's your job, get used to it," I replied, catching my boxers before it landed on my head.

"Whatever," she replied, sounding somewhat annoyed. She went into the back room behind the bar area as I tossed the boxers back to her. A few minutes later she emerged from the small room and, almost immediately, we both heard a scream.

"What was that?" She asked, a terrified expression on her face. She ran toward the door with me following behind. As she opened the door, I saw Claire laying on the ground, her arms on the ground in front of her while her legs were wrapped around each other. There was a white horse facing her, rearing up and stomping its hooves to the ground and repeating the process over and over. During one of these processes, it stomped on Claire's arm as I'm sure I could hear the sick sound of her arm breaking. A clear, merciless _SNAP._

She screamed out as tears gathered in her eyes. Again, the horse reared up and stomped the ground again, this time coming in contact with her opposite arm, only landing on her wrist. That's when I heard it again. _SNAP._

Ann and I both looked at each other, obviously thinking the same thing. If we didn't act fast, the horse would probably break a whole lot more than just an arm and a wrist. Ann ran up to the horse and waved her arms, trying to scare it off. It took a little while because the horse was focused on Claire, but after a few of Ann's attempts, the horse startled again and ran off in the other direction. I ran over to Claire's shaking body and picked her up, running as fast as I could toward the clinic. Ann followed close behind us. I forced the door open as I looked around for Tim or Elli. Tim was obviously shocked out of something, because I could have sworn he jumped a few feet. He gestured us to a hospital bed as he took Claire from my arms and laid her on the bed, just as Claire closed her eyes, obviously passing out.

"What happened?" asked a worried Elli as she ran over to the circle we formed.

"We found her like this when we ran outside," Ann replied, "her horse was rearing up and stomping on her. I think she might have broken some things,"

"Would you two please step out and over here, so the doctor can examine Claire?" Elli asked in a hurried tone, gesturing to a few chairs after Ann told her what happened. We got out of the way of the examination as we sat down in the comfortable chairs. I grabbed a random magazine from the table beside us and began to flip through the pages, somewhat worried to hear Claire's news. Not that I cared, or anything like that. It's just… well, when you actually _see_ someone get hurt, it's a little different.

Around an hour or so later, the doctor emerged from the examination room. "Claire's got a broken arm, a broken wrist, an injured rib and an injured back. She should be fine when she wakes up, other than the few pains she'll be feeling for a while. There's a slight possibility for a concussion, but she didn't hit her head that hard it looks like. She's got her casts on and everything, almost as good as new." He said, trying to seem cheerful. He walked over to the desk toward where Elli was sitting and started up a conversation with her.

"I guess that's good news, I mean, it could be worse," Ann said. "But how is she to take care of things at her farm with injuries like that?"

"You seem to have a lot of free time," I said, looking over at Ann. "You could help,"

"Excuse me, but I have the inn to clean and cook for. I mean, sure, I've got _some_ free time," she said, emphasizing the word 'some', "But not all day! Who knows how long it will take to clean the inn, cook food for the customers, PLUS take care of Claire and her farm on top of that?" she glared at me. "Maybe YOU should help her out. I mean, it's not like I don't want to, but I have a lot of stuff to do already. I'm sure grandpa could manage without your help…" she trailed off, looking back at her magazine.

"My job isn't that easy either, you know. I have to fix tools, help grandpa make _new_ tools, along with accessories to sell. Besides, my only free day is Thursday." I growled. I did NOT want to help Claire with her work.

"At least you _have_ a free day! I work all week, pretty much 24/7! You're complaining about starting work at 10, finishing at 4, all while getting a break on Thursday?" Ann complained, flailing her arms in the air.

"Please keep it down," Elli called over to us quietly.

"Well…" Ann whispered. "we haven't heard the rest of the news anyway, and Claire isn't even up yet. So why are arguing about this already?" She asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, whatever," I grumbled as I stuck my nose into the magazine again. I looked down when I noticed I still had my boxers and my cutoff t-shirt on. Feeling my head, I scowled. I didn't even have my hat on. "Hey, uh," I muttered to Ann, "How about I go back to the inn so I can… well, put on some clothes?"

"What? No! Claire will be waking up any minute now!" Ann yelled.

"We'd more than likely fight anyway." I grumbled.

A few more minutes passed when Ann and I both jumped as Elli called to the doctor emerging from the stairway.

"She's waking up! Hurry, Tim!"

**Claire's POV**

I couldn't help but squint as Tim examined my eyes when I woke up. "How do you feel?" he asked as I tried to sit up, but I cried out as both my ribs and back seared in pain from my sudden movement. "Hey, take it easy." He urged as I saw Ann and Gray run up into the examination room. Wait – was Gray in his boxers?

_He looks kind of cute without his hat on,_ I thought. Wait, no, I did _not_ think that. I could _not_ think Gray was cute. Especially since this was the mean, redheaded jerk-o-saurus that I always fought with.

"Claire! Are you okay?" Ann cried as she jumped forward, about to engulf me in a hug when Tim stopped her.

"I feel like I've been trampled by a thousand elephants," I muttered angrily as I reached out to rub my back when I noticed a cast on my wrist. I looked at it, also noticing my other arm. "What happened to me?" I asked, looking fretfully at the doctor.

"You broke your arm and your wrist. Your ribs and your back are injured, also. You hit your head pretty hard, but I don't think it's enough for a concussion."

"But… how did-" I started when I remembered that squirrel on the barrel outside of the inn. Snow had spooked from it. Suddenly I started to panic. Snow could be anywhere!

"Where's Snow?" I asked, looking frantically from Ann to Gray.

"Your horse ran off toward town square when we last saw it," growled Gray.

"I've got to find her! She could have gotten hurt, or worse, hurt someone else!" I cried as I jumped up from the bed, only to be caught by Gray before I fell on the floor. "Hey, chill out. You're going to hurt yourself even more," he chuckled.

"Gray's right, Claire. You need your rest – as much as you can get, as a matter of fact." Tim said.

"But…" I tried to argue.

"Claire, please," I heard Elli say as she walked over to us. "Just relax. Someone will find your horse and return it to your farm. If not that, it will probably head back on it's own,"

"Yeah. I guess you're right," I sighed in defeat, laying back down on the bed. I heard Tim and Elli walk out of the examination area, asking Gray and Ann to do the same.

"See you tomorrow, Claire! Get rested up, now!" Ann called over her shoulder as I heard the door open. Wait, did she say tomorrow?!

"HEY!" I yelled as I sat up fully now, causing all four people in the room to jump. "What about my farm? I have to take care of my animals! My plants need to be watered!"

"Don't worry about it. Go to sleep." Tim said, rather irritated by me making him jump.

"We'll take care of it for you," Ann said cheerfully. "It'll be fun, right Gray?"

He muttered something under his breath before he left the building. "It's okay, settle down," she mentioned, noticing the expression on my face when she said Gray would help too. "I'll keep an eye on him 24/7."

Ann and Gray left, leaving me alone with Tim and Elli. I never realized how awkward and uncomfortable this would be. Elli walked into the area I was going to sleep in when she told me the time, 6:30.

"Are you serious? I can't sleep now! I'll be awake all night long! Can't I just go out for a little while, until it gets dark out?" I asked mournfully. She shook her head and sighed. "Claire, I'm sorry, but these injuries are far more than casual. You could hurt yourself much more by not resting properly. So, please, just _try_ to get some sleep? It's better than trying to sleep at two in the afternoon, right?" she asked, smiling. "I'll get you some magazines if you really want something to do," She said before walking over to the table, carrying a stack of magazines in her hands on her way back. She bid me a goodnight as I shuffled through the pages of one of the magazines she left for me.

**Ann's POV – the next day**

I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock as I dragged myself out of bed and over to my dresser. I grabbed a pair of my overalls and a white t-shirt to go under it for working at Claire's farm today. Hopefully she'll be able to get out of the clinic today, I thought to myself. I walked out the door after changing into my work clothes and skipped over to Gray and Cliff's sleeping room. I opened the door and walked to Gray's bed, tapping him on the shoulder. "Graaaay, time to get up!" I called to him, trying not to wake up Cliff. Gray put his head under his pillow and mumbled something, I guessed he was talking in his sleep. I tried the friendly approach again, this time with no response from Gray. Irritated, I grabbed the pillow from atop his head and hit him on the back with it. "Come on, get up!"

"I'm coming!" he snapped, kicking off the blankets and stumbing out of bed. Glaring at me, he pointed to the door. "Get out," he growled, pushing me toward the exit after I stood still for a few moments. He slammed the door in my face after I stepped out. I could hear him rummaging through his drawer full of clothes. A few moments passed and he came out wearing his work clothes and, of course, his hat.

"Let's get this over with," he muttered, walking toward the stairway. "I don't want to spend all day taking care of Claire's animals,"

"Why not? You haven't been around farm animals in a long time. It's going to be fun, really!"

"Yeah, whatever," he growled as he skipped a few steps walking down the stairs. He grabbed a piece of toast that lay on the counter for our breakfast and trudged out the door. I followed his lead and did the same as him, walking out the door with a piece of toast in my mouth.

Outside, we headed south down the path toward Claire's farm as the planted crops and grazing animals came in view. I'd seen her farm before, but this time I was much more excited to see it.

"Alright," I started as we reached the small pond near her shipping bin, "you can go take care of the horses, cows and sheep. I'll get started on the chickens and the plants," I said, pointing in the direction of animals grazing in the pasture for Gray's benefit while I walked into Claire's house to grab the watering can. Claire said she'd leave the door open for me so I could grab things in there if I needed them. I looked around her house as I saw a happy dog run toward me. She apparently remembered me from before, since she started to lick my hands. "Hey, Cisco. How're you, girl?" I asked. Cisco was a mix of Labrador retriever and Siberian husky. She was a great dog, she helped Claire protect her animals at night, as well as Claire herself. Some people thought Cisco was blind, since she had one blue eye and one brown eye. The blue eye resembled the husky side of her, the brown resembled the Labrador side of her. I patted her on the head before opening up the small chest that lay on her floor, which contained all the tools Gray and I would be needing. I picked up the milker, brush and watering can before walking outside again. I let Cisco out to frolic for a bit, since it was a nice day outside.

**Gray's POV**

"Alright," Ann started as we walked toward that small pond near the shipping bin, "you can go take care of the horses, cows and sheep. I'll get started on the chickens and the plants," she said, pointing toward the animals grazing in the pasture. She walked toward Claire's house, apparently to retrieve the tools we'd be needing. I walked over to the small fence in the pasture which surrounded the animals I needed to care for. I spotted three cows, three horses and three sheep. Three must be her lucky number, I thought, just before spotting the few dozen chickens which were clucking uncontrollably near the edge of the fence. A few of the cows wobbled toward me while I jumped onto the fence. They mooed happily, possibly calling for the other animals to come over also, as I saw the sheep look up from their grazing and started clumsily

following the cows.

What kind of animal circus has she got going on here? I thought to myself as I waited for the cows to greet me at the fence. It took them quite a while, seeing as they looked somewhat bloated from all the grass. I jumped off the fence as they finally got to where I was waiting. I patted each cow and sheep, triggering a happy noise from each animal. I heard the door to Claire's house shut while I turned around to see Ann carrying a brush and the cow milker over to me. The dog that followed Ann out of the house ran over to the tree in front of the chicken coop, jumping up and down. It might have spotted a butterfly or something.

"Hope you haven't lost your touch," she laughed, tossing me the brush and the milker. I caught them both simultaneously, turning back to the cows. They waited patiently as I bent down to milk the cows. This was awkward, I wasn't used to milking cows. I mean, I haven't done it in a really long time, at least. After a while I finished with the cows, tossing the milker and the three bottles of milk onto the ground. I picked up the brush and dipped it into the small pond near where Ann was working before returning to wash the cows and sheep to cool them off. They seemed to enjoy the cool water on their fur, as I could have sworn a few of the sheep got dreamy looks in their eyes.

This place is weird, I thought.

I glanced at my watch when finally finishing with the cows and sheep. It read 10:39. I sighed, picking up the brush after spotting the two horses that constantly followed each other. One of the horses was a brown and white paint, while the other was black with a white diamond on its forehead and four socks on its lower legs. I jogged over to them, then slowed to a walk as they heard me approach. They looked at me for a while with their ears tilted back and their heads reaching out toward me. I patted each horse between the ears before brushing each one individually. I was brushing the black horse first, when I felt my hat being taken off my head. I turned around to see the paint with my hat in it's mouth, shaking its head in a teasing manner. "C'mon, give it back," I growled, making a grab for the hat. The horse jerked it's head away, trotting toward the chickens. I scowled as I heard Ann laughing hysterically, throwing the watering can to the ground as she dropped to the grass. "It's not funny!" I called to her angrily. She didn't stop laughing, but rather started to laugh even harder, rolling on the ground uncontrollably.

That's when I heard another laugh, a separate one. I looked toward the entrance of the farm to see Claire, casts on and everything. She walked over to where the chickens were, also where that horse was. She patted it on the head with her …better arm, and grabbed the hat out of it's mouth with ease, turning to face me from across the fence with a smile on her face. I walked up to her to retrieve my hat.

"Uh, thanks," I muttered, placing my beloved hat back on my head.

"No problem," she laughed. I saw her look toward the black horse, then back toward the paint. She sighed, a look of dread on her face. "I see Snow still hasn't returned," she mumbled as Ann walked up to us.

"Everything's all done, captain!" Ann called cheerily, engulfing Claire in a hug. "I'm glad you're out of that hospital. I would have snapped if I had to stay with doctors for that long," she laughed, patting her gently on the back.

"It was pretty awkward. I just looked at magazines the whole time, with an occasional chat with Elli," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "By the way, thanks a bunch for helping me. Both of you," she added, looking at me. "I don't really know how to repay you-"

"Oh, no, no, no. You don't have to repay us. This was fun, right Gray?" Ann asked me, looking at me as if to say, '_You'd better agree with me or no more food for you!"_

"Sure," I growled, pulling my hat down to cover my eyes.

"Well," Claire hesitated, "I'm glad you both liked it, but I'd feel guilty if I didn't repay you in any way," she said, apparently lost in deep thought. "Oh!" she cried suddenly, "Would you guys like to stay for supper? You can't say no to that, Ann. I know you want to see if your cooking is better than mine," she added. Claire was right. Ann was very competitive.

"Oh, alright. I guess we don't have anything better to do anyway," Ann laughed. Way to stay undercover, little sister.

A while later after the farmwork was completely finished for the day, we all headed inside – including her dog – for supper. Her house looked quaint. She had a somewhat big bed near her right window, a night stand with an alarm clock, a television next to the night stand and a grandfather clock beside the television. One of her dressers were near the kitchen (which was near the bathroom,) and the clock against the wall. She had a beige/white couch just left to the door leading outside, and a coffee table in front of that. Her dining table was near the kitchen, somewhat kitty-corner to the dresser near the clock. She had another dresser at the foot of her bed, the back of the dresser facing the wall. Pictures were scattered around on this dresser, while a fish bowl containing two goldfish sat in the middle of the pictures. There were a few plants around the house also, which made the house look nice. The door to the bathroom was open, and I could see it had a white tile with a white bathtub. The walls were a light green with white stripes. She had a light green rug centered near the bathtub, while the curtains to her bathtub were blue and green with goldfish on it. I heard a patter on the wooden floor as I looked down to see Cisco wagging her tail for the company.

"Have you met Cisco?" Claire asked, patting Cisco on the head as she wagged her tail happily against the wood floor.

"Yeah, we've had a few friendly encounters before," Ann replied, bending down so she was eye to eye level with Cisco. "Oh, you're so CUTE!" she cried in a babyish tone.

I rolled my eyes - girls. Claire walked up to the kitchen and opened the fridge, bending down to look at all of the condiments. "What sounds good for supper?" she asked, "Pizza, spaghetti, soup or roast?"

"I don't care," I said, looking over to Ann.

"Mmm…" she muttered, thinking this difficult decision over in her head. "Spaghetti sounds good!" she said after a few moments of concentration.

Claire laughed, "Okay, I'll get it started,"

"Do you need any help?" I asked, remembering her injuries. Ann looked over at me and back at Claire, nodding.

"You probably shouldn't do too much, seeing as you just got out of the hospital yesterday," Ann added, watching Claire grab things from the fridge and place them on the counter.

"It's okay, I'll be fine! I make this all the time, so this'll be easy peasy-" she said, interrupted by a loud 'thump' on the floor. She'd dropped the container of butter.

I walked over and picked up the container for her, setting it on the counter. "Really, just let us make this before you make a mess," I grumbled, pointing to the chunk of butter on the floor.

"I can do it! I'm not completely helpless! Come on, just let me try!" she cried, gesturing for me to sit at the table. I shook my head, folding my arms over my chest. "Go sit down," I said forcefully. I noticed her scowl as I urged her to sit down. "Hey, if you sit down, then _you_ get to be the judge of who's the better cook – you or Ann!" I added, hoping she'd agree. She glanced over at Ann then back to me. "Alright, fine," she said, walking over to the couch and sitting down, putting her feet up on the coffee table as she sighed in defeat. Ann walked over to the kitchen, "Good job, big brother," she said quietly, "Now we can have ourselves a _real_ meal-"

"What was that?!" Claire exclaimed, glaring at Ann. "My meals aren't considered real, huh? Well, missy, you've just declared war!" she finished, putting her arms over her chest as she started to pout. She turned on the T.V as I smirked at Ann before helping her with the cooking.

After we finished eating, Ann grabbed our dishes and started to wash them. Claire laughed before commenting, "I still think I win the spaghetti contest." Ann turned around and looked at Claire, "That's totally not fair! I didn't even get a say in that!" she said, pretending to be hurt but started laughing after a while. I chuckled as the two girls fought it out.

"Your noodles get overcooked!" Claire yelled after a few tempts to provoke Ann about spaghetti sause and meat.

"Your noodles get undercooked!" Ann yelled back, pointing at Claire. "They're so white, they look like snow!"

Suddenly, Claire jumped. "Snow! She's still lost! Oh no, I've completely forgotten about her!" she cried, looking from Ann to me. "I've got to go look for her," she said, getting up from the table and walking toward the door. I jumped up and stopped her before she exited her house. "I'll go look for her. You stay here with Ann," I muttered, walking out of the house to leave a dumbstruck Claire and Ann alone.

It was very cold and dark outside. It must have been at least 8 P.M. I decided to look in town for the horse first, since I could ask people if they'd seen a lost white creature with hooves. I headed up the path and took a right at the winery. I decided to ask at the bar, since drunks tended to gather there at night, spilling out whatever secrets they held.

Opening the door, I saw the usual group that usually hung out around this time. Cliff, Rick and Tim were gathered around the bar, while Karen, Elli and Popuri sat around a table, obviously laughing at the gossip that was being passed around. I walked up to the bar, but didn't sit down.

"Hey, it's Gray!" called Karen from behind me. I heard a low murmur of voices, then a loud explosion of giggles.

"Claire's lost her horse," I stated, getting right to the point. "It's white, and uh… it has brown eyes… it was last seen at the inn. Anyone noticed a lost horse?" I asked, looking from the guys at the bar to the girls surrounding the table, who immediately went quiet at the mention of Claire.

"I haven't seen anything," Cliff muttered, followed by a similar response from Rick, Popuri and Elli.

"I saw something near town square," commented Karen. Something, huh? Very descriptive, Karen. I wonder if she'd already been drinking.

"Try checking the beach or even Barley's farm," suggested Tim. I nodded, thanking him for the advice. Karen offered to buy me a drink, but I refused. I wanted to get this horse chase over with… I didn't exactly want to get into a drinking contest with Karen, either.

I walked out the door and decided to head toward the beach to check it out. Town square appeared to be empty when I arrived, as did the beach, other than the occasional seagulls that landed on the shore to peck at the sand. I sighed. This was getting annoying, I thought.

I headed up to Barley's place after checking out the beach. The lights were on in his house, and I could see the small figure of May in the window. I reached the door and knocked a couple times.

"Hello, Gray!" called May when she answered the door. "What do you want?" she asked in the sweetest tone as possible.

"Have you seen a lost white horse around here? It belongs to Claire," I replied, wondering where Barley might be.

"Umm…" she trailed off, thinking. "Oh! Yeah, we did see it! Come with me," she said, running out of the house and over to the barn. "She's in here. We found her at the mountain. She sure is pretty!" she said. I nodded and thanked her as she ran back into the house. I walked into the barn and, sure enough, there was Claire's beloved Snow. The horse whinnied when it saw me as I led it out of the barn and closed the door behind me. "Now, you be good," I growled as I climbed onto the horse's back. She seemed a bit surprised, but nonetheless walked smoothly on the way back to the farm.

Claire and Ann came running out when they saw me through the window. I got off, holding the horse's reins in my hands. "Gray! You got her back! Oh, thank you!" Claire yelled, running up to me. I gave her the reins just as she gave me a hug for rescuing her horse. I felt myself blush when she let go. She looked at me and smiled, blushing a bit herself. She turned around and led the horse back into the stable, when returning moments later to see Ann and I off.

"Thanks again," Claire said, looking at me. "If it weren't for you, she could have gotten really hurt,"

"No problem," I mumbled, rather embarrassed.

"Thanks for having dinner with me, too," she said, looking toward Ann. "But… I still think I win," she said in a teasing tone. Ann laughed and patted her back, "Whatever makes you happy,"

--

**That chapter took a little while. I'm happy with the way it turned out, though. There wasn't a whole lot of Gray / Claire bonding, except for that little bit at the end. In one of these upcoming chapters, though, you'll get the bonding moments, along with some possible fluff. :o**

**Once again, please review for the sake of the story!**


	3. Girls Night Out

Here's that chapter three I promised

**Here's that chapter three I promised! Sorry this took so long, but I had to go back and re-read it over and over to make sure it was 'postable.' Oh – in case anyone had forgotten or is wondering, Claire does a lot of things with her broken wrist. You may have gotten confused when I wrote about her picking things up and such. I just wanted to clear that up. :)**

**Please enjoy this chapter! It covers some things on Claire's past, as well as some funny moments from the other characters.**

--

**Claire's POV**

I glanced wearily at the clock before opening my dresser to change clothes. 8:03 P.M, it read. I grabbed a pair of light blue jeans and a snug gray t-shirt while trying to put my hair up in a somewhat side-ponytail. Without much luck, no thanks to my broken arm, I let it hang down as the waves uncurled loosely. This didn't look too bad either, I thought. I quickly finished getting ready as I grabbed a forest-green sweatshirt before heading out the door.

I looked around the farm to make sure everything was fine. The animals were in the barn, Cisco was in the house and the chickens were in their coop. I nodded approvingly before noticing the moon that sat up in the dark night sky tonight. It was just a sliver of moon compared to a full moon, but it was still pretty. I smiled as I remembered calling the moon a banana – or nanna – when I was little. I would always look forward to seeing that nanna up in the sky at night. I giggled before walking up the stone path toward the inn, thinking about my past.

"_Daddy! Look, it's the moon!" I called excitedly as I ran outside to stare at the moon._

"_It sure is," he replied. "Do you know what that moon looks like?" he asked, smiling down at me._

"_It looks like a big smiley," I said after a few moments, "or… maybe a nanna!" I giggled, trying to pronounce banana as best as I could._

"_That's right, it's a banana." He said calmly, pointing to the sky. "One day when you get big and tall, you'll be able to grab that banana right out of the sky," he paused for a few moments to kneel down before me, "and eat it!" he yelled, tickling me as I fell to the grass laughing._

I smiled at the memory just before opening the door to the inn, being greeted by lots of familiar faces. Ann and Mary saw me walk in, gesturing me to their table, which also seated Karen, Elli and Popuri. "About time you arrived!" Karen called as I sat down at their table, "We'd begin to think you'd bail on us!"

"What, you actually think I'd miss a chance to hang out with you old farts?" I laughed, patting Karen on the back.

She smirked and handed me a glass of wine that lay abandoned on the table. "Drink up," she said, "Tonight we're going to have some fun,"

I lifted the wine glass to my mouth and took a gulp, wiped my mouth with my sleeve and gleamed as I put it down. A few of us looked toward the stairway as we heard steps. Cliff emerged first, followed by Rick who was then followed by Gray. They went over to the bar area to sit down, forcing themselves upon conversation to avoid awkward silences.

I saw Karen smile broadly as she whispered, "Watch this, guys," before getting up and walking over to the three men at the bar.

"Hey, cutie," Karen said smoothly while sitting down next to Gray. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "Have you already been hitting the drinks?" he grumbled.

"I don't need to drink to flirt with you," she said quietly. Gray tried to grab for his hat, just before Karen pulled it off his head. "You should wear your hair like this more often," she said, ruffling his red hair, "It brings out your eyes,"

"Give me my hat back," he growled, glaring at Karen.

She ignored his request as she started walking over to Cliff, who immediately swiveled his chair to face the bar. She grabbed the lower part of it, turning him back around to face her. She put Gray's hat on his head while smirking over at Gray, who had clenched his fists angrily.

"Now, this looks perfect!" Karen cried. Ann and I both laughed at how red Cliff's face had gotten. Karen walked over to Rick now, who folded his arms across his chest angrily.

"Now, Karen, before you do anyth-" he started, only to be interrupted by Karen removing Rick's glasses and putting them on her head. She put a finger on his lips and let out a 'shh' noise as she brushed her hand against his cheek. He blushed, his arms still folded across his chest. "Quit it, Karen," he demanded, now holding her off at arm-length. He let go of her shoulders, grabbing his glasses off of her head and putting them back on his face.

"Can't you take a joke, Rick?" she asked, pretending to be hurt as she walked back to the table and high-fived each of us. I laughed as I saw Gray grab his hat off of Cliff's head, messing up Cliff's hair.

"Come on ladies," Ann said getting up, pointing to the door leading outside, "let's go have some fun!" she called, escorting each of us out the door in a former fashion.

"I don't think Claire-," Rick started but was firmly interrupted by Ann,

"Claire's fine! Right Claire?" she asked, smiling at me.

"Of course, my darling dear," I said, bowing in front of her. She took my hand as we skipped merrily out the door and into the cold night.

"Where are we going?" asked Mary, checking her watch. "I have to be back by 10 P.M,"

"Don't worry, we'll get baby home for her bedtime," Karen said, putting her arm around Mary's neck. Mary folded her arms around her chest and pouted.

"What about my place?" I suggested, looking down the path. "It'd be fine with me,"

"Alriiiight! To Claire's pad!" Ann yelled loudly, taking off down the stone path. I laughed as I ran after her, hearing everyone else's footsteps behind me. We ran for a few moments longer before we finally reached the familiar farmland I lived on. I opened the door, welcoming everyone else inside.

"Make yourselves comfortable," I said as I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a bundle of warm blankets. I threw them on the floor as I ran over to the kitchen and grabbed some microwavable popcorn. Popuri had turned on the T.V and switched the channel to some scary movie that was playing tonight. I put the popcorn in the microwave as I started to listen for the popping of the kernels. I looked over toward the couch to see Elli and Popuri on the floor sharing a blanket, Mary under the table with her own blanket, and Karen hogging the couch with two blankets on herself. Ann sat in front of the T.V, staring up at the picture. I laughed as the popcorn finished popping. I took it out carefully and poured it into a big bowl. Walking over to the table, careful not to step on anyone, I placed it down. "Dig in," I said, watching as everyone moved from their spots and crawled over to the popcorn. I sat down on the floor, grabbing a spare blanket of my own while Cisco walked up to me and laid her head on my lap. Popuri grabbed for the remote and turned the T.V down considerably, receiving a mouthful from Ann.

"HEY, MAN!" she yelled loudly, making a mad dash for the remote. "I was watching that!" Popuri threw the remote to Karen, who put it under her pillow, unwilling to let Ann turn up the volume again.

"It's almost over, anyway," Karen said angrily as Ann tried to grab the remote from under Karen's pillow.

"I don't care! I want to see the end of it!" cried Ann, who stopped her desperate attempts to grab the remote and stood calmly in front of Karen.

"How about you go get me some wine?" asked Karen, smiling devilishly at Ann. Ann sighed, walking over to the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine.

She returned to Karen and handed her the bottle before asking, "Now can I have the remote back?"

"Nope. Go sit down," Karen said, taking off the top to the bottle and drinking a bit of it. I laughed as the two girls argued over the remote for a few more minutes before finally realizing the show was over.

"Now look what you did! You broke it!" cried Ann, apparently not as sober as she recently appeared to be. I was quite surprised Karen wasn't drunk yet. Karen laughed and turned off the T.V completely, tossing the remote to the other end of the couch.

"Time for some stories!" called Elli and Mary in unison as Karen laid back down on the couch, chugging down some more wine. Ann sat down next to Popuri and I as we all formed a somewhat semi-circle around Karen.

"I'll go first!" Ann cried excitedly, tapping her chin to think of interesting stories to tell. "Well, one time I was cleaning the rooms upstairs in the inn, right? It was around 1:00 P.M, so I figured the guys were out of their rooms and at work. But, when I opened the door to their room, I saw Cliff and Kai, both sleeping in their boxers, and nothing but their boxers!" Popuri let out an audible squeal at the mention of Kai in his boxers. I laughed and shook my head.

Karen lifted up the wine bottle and hiccupped, "I-I've got one. So, I went to the b-bar like I normally do. Duke was there, so he asked if I wanted to battle f-for the best drunk in town position. I did, and I won. Haha. Duke h-had to be dragged home by Doug." She laughed while the rest of us laughed also, but probably at how drunk Karen had gotten in only a few minutes.

"My turn!" called Elli, a broad smile planted on her face. "You know how the doctor lives at the clinic, right?" she asked, receiving nods from all of us. "Well, he takes showers there too. So, I went upstairs one day to grab something of mine, when the door to the bathroom opened up! He was soaking wet with only a towel around his waist." She finished, blushing slightly as we all laughed and let out whistles.

Mary's turn next. She had grabbed her braid and began to play with it unconsciously, thinking of stories to tell. "There aren't very many good stories that have to do with a library…" she trailed off, thinking of excuses to skip her turn.

"Come on, Mary! I'm sure _something_ interesting has happened," Elli said, nudging her in the side.

Mary tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well… I guess the only thing I can think of right now is when I looked out the window and Manna had Duke by the ear, dragging him back to their house. Must have been after one of Karen's drinking contests," she added hopefully.

Karen laughed and yelled, "Sucker!"

"Claire! It's your turn!" Ann called excitedly. "We saved the best for last!"

"Guys, I honestly don't have many stories from Mineral Town."

"Oh, come on! What about before you moved? What stories do you have from then?" cried Popuri.

"There weren't a lot of funny stories from my childhood, either," I said quietly.

"Well, tell us any kind of a story, then!" cried Elli.

"Guys, please," I pleaded. "I don't want to,"

"Neither did I, but I swallowed my pride!" replied Mary excitedly. "Please, Claire?" she asked softly as the rest of the girls looked at me sadly.

I took a few moments before realizing that I'd never told them anything about my past before. They didn't know what happened and when, where I lived – nothing. I decided that maybe it's about time they knew something. After all, they were my friends.

"Alright," I sighed, trying to stay calm. "When I was little, I lived with my mom, dad, big brother and my baby sister on a farm. I loved living there. We had all kinds of livestock, along with our pet dogs and cats. It was great – real paradise. My brother and I attended school together in elementary until I was in third grade, while Jack was in fifth," I said, taking a breath.

"What happened? Didn't you finish school?" asked a curious Popuri. I saw Ann and Elli nod out of the corner of my eye.

"No, I didn't." I replied, watching the girls' faces grow even more curious expressions.

I sighed before continuing. "One day on my way home from school, Jack had gone with his friends to hang out. He asked if I could get to the bus stop alone okay, and I said I could, so he ran off with his friends. I was doing fine walking alone for a few blocks, but then a car pulled up to me. A man wearing one of those black masks you wear if you don't want you face to be seen – like if you're robbing a bank – opened the door and pulled me inside," I said.

Everyone gasped while Karen asked, "What happened?!"

"I never saw my family again," I answered solemnly. "Those people… they took me to some building and put me in a room. I only got fed once a day, and they didn't ever speak a word to me. I was so confused, I didn't have a clue what was going on… but, then one day, the food stopped coming. Nobody was in that building anymore, I don't know whether they forgot about me or just decided to leave. Either way, I decided to try my best to get out of there. My hard work finally paid off, as I was able to break down the door. I ran out and I never looked back… I tried to find my house, but this wasn't the town I had lived in with my family. I didn't know it then, but they had taken me somewhere far away." I finished, a frown planted upon my face as Mary reached over and gave me a hug.

"Claire, I'm so sorry. We didn't know…" she said sadly, embracing me tighter. Karen looked like she had seen a ghost, Elli and Popuri looked as if they were about to cry, and Ann had eyes as big as baseballs.

"Guys, it's okay. It's all over now, so let's just…forget I'd even said anything. Okay?" I asked quietly, smiling weakly. Mary seemed to understand, gesturing for the others to change the subject.

We talked about guys, makeup, clothes, things like that for around an hour or so later. It cheered me up from the story I had to tell. Then again, I had also been drinking a LOT more wine after that story.

A knock on the door signaled me to get up and answer it. "Claire?" asked Rick, who was followed by Cliff, Tim and Gray.

"What's uppp, Rickkk," Karen called from the floor as she got up and walked over to us. She grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him inside.

"Tim!" called Elli, obviously very surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"It's three in the morning," he complained, rubbing his eyes. I looked at my clock – it was indeed 3 A.M. "I think you guys should go home so Claire can get her rest," he said, folding his arms over his chest.

"GRAYYY!" called Ann loudly after a few minutes of noticing him. Ann got up and jumped into Gray, who tumbled backwards at the sudden surprise.

"Damn, what's with you?" he growled angrily, pushing her off and onto the wooden floor. "One minute you're as dead as a zombie and the next you're jumping on people like you've gone mad,"

Ann folded her arms across her chest and pouted. "Someone's in a bad mood,"

Gray shook his head and smirked, "Someone's had a bit too much to drink,"

"She's nothing compared to Karen and Claire tonight," interrupted Elli, who pointed over to us. "Whaaaat?" cried Karen, oblivious to what was going on as she tripped over my leg that rest on the floor.

"Watch where you're going you big elephant," I laughed as I clumsily helped Karen up from the floor she had recently fallen over on.

Rick walked over to Karen and said quietly, trying not to put Karen in a bad mood, "It's time for you to go home, Karen…"

"No, no. Teddy and I are having a great time. You go ahead and play with your dolls, Susie." Karen replied, smiling sheepishly. I heard Ann let out a loud laugh. Rick couldn't help himself from laughing as well.

"Come on, Karen, let's go," Rick urged again, this time having an easier run at getting Karen to agree. They walked out the door and shut it behind them as Rick escorted Karen back to the store. Elli and Tim walked out also, waving goodbye as they followed Rick and Karen. Mary got up and thanked me for the fun, while she left as well.

Gray had to practically drag Ann out of the house. She begged him to let her stay, but he refused. They left the building and walked up the path toward the inn, leaving Cisco and I in an empty house together. I walked over to my dresser and grabbed my pajamas as I slipped them on before plopping into bed sleepily.

**Gray's POV**

"Come on, Gray!" I heard grandpa call from upstairs. "Hurry up with those ores!" I scowled as I picked up the silver and copper ores from the table and grumpily walked upstairs. Grandpa had been working on a tool for Claire this morning while I had to work on something that was ordered by Zack.

I carried the ores to grandpa as he growled to me, his back turned, "You always take your sweet time. I don't have all day, you know," grabbing the ores out of my hand, he shaped them around the tool. I was about to walk back downstairs to get back to work when grandpa stopped me. "I'm almost done with this tool here. You can deliver it to Claire, got it?"

"Yeah, whatever," I growled. A few moments later he was inspecting the tool for any mistakes he'd have to go back and fix. Apparently, he passed his own inspection, as he thrust the tool in my arms.

I walked out the door and into the empty path down to Claire's farm. Nobody was outside, not even her animals. I shrugged as I knocked loudly on the door to her house. No response. I knocked again after a few moments, this time being greeted by a sleepy Claire.

"What do you want?" she yawned groggily. "I was sleeping, you know,"

"Shouldn't you be working? It's nearly noon," I growled, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Huh, guess I overslept… um, why are you here?" she asked again, blinking and folding her arms across her chest.

"Here's that tool you wanted upgraded," I said, handing the tool over to her. She grabbed it with her broken wrist.

"Thanks…" she trailed off as she put the handle side of the tool on the floor, leaning on the metal part.

"You know, you shouldn't put so much pressure on your wrist," I said, remembering how she grabbed the tool.

"What? Oh… It's not like I can do much with my arm, anyway," she replied irritably.

"I'm just saying. If you're not careful you're going to end up at the clinic again-" I started, only to be interrupted by an angry Claire.

"I can take care of myself, by myself. I don't need people like you worrying about me. It only makes things worse for me," she said, frowning.

"Don't come crying to me again the next time you get hurt," I growled as I started up the path again.

"Fine, I won't!" she called back angrily, slamming the door.

I sighed as I walked toward my destination. Claire and her stubbornness. Not the best combination.

**--**

**Thanks for reading! This chapter wasn't as long as I had hoped, but I didn't want to bore you! That, and I ran out of things to write about. The next chapter will feature summertime! And, guess who comes during the Summer?**

**I hadn't gotten around to Claire and Gray bonding very much yet, but don't worry! It's well on it's way.**

**PLEASE review. Your reviews are pretty much the only thing that keeps me writing. It's the fuel for my car, the ketchup to my French fries, the songs to my iPod, if you will. ;)**

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